Sea Route to California
Migrants coming on the Panama route often experienced diseases of yellow fever, malaria, and dysentery. When they waited in Panama City for connections, many fell victim to cholera which was an epidemic there.
On the Cape Horn route, some died of cholera, and others had scurvy because of the lack of fresh fruits and vegetables.
The migrants had
many problems with their supplies. As reported in the Sacramento
Bee, the butter and lard went sour, terrible rats ate
cheese, even salt meat sometimes went bad, bottles of fruit juice
exploded, wine turned to vinegar, candles melted near the
equator, weevils got into flour, rice and hard bread.
Here on the tip of
Cape Horn, winds were very cold, and very strong. Sometimes ships
were forced south toward the
Antarctic by the strong winds.
